Sunday, March 05, 2017

Other than the Austin Valdez news, BG has a couple more news flashes on the football front which we can sneak in here before the UT-BG game tomorrow.

The big one is the release of the schedule. There's no way to overstate this for Falcon fans, who are hungry to see the program rebound next year...a really good record is going to be tough with this schedule. BG could have a good year at 6-6.

There are 2 P5 programs on the schedule. Also, BG plays at a very good Middle Tennessee State program. Yes, there is an FCS team, but there are also only 5 home games overall. More on that in a minute.

So, let's say you lose the 3 non-conferences games. You still have to play UT, @Miami and @EMU, the last 2 of whom have returned to our rotation just as their programs have been rebuilt. And, after that, you still have OU, NIU...so for example, a 6-win season might look like SD, Akron, OU, NIU, @Kent and @Buffalo. The 7th win would need to be (for example), UT, @Miami or @EMU. If BG gets 7 wins they would be 6-2 in the MAC and possibly in the MAC title game.

And if BG ends up there, I think we can start to think we have some guys who can coach. A continuation of last year? BG could be as poor as 3-9/4-8 again easily.

Now, as for the lack of home games...it is very disappointing. I love to be at the Doyt and I love our home games. A while ago we had an AD committing to having 6 home games, which by definition means more home and homes with mid-majors. I just don't think that's realistic for us for financial reasons. I have posted here time and again about the level of subsidy our athletic program gets from the students at BG. It is among the lowest in the MAC and still too high. I just think the athletic department needs the football team to play those two games and cash the checks from, this year, MSU and Northwestern.

It is just one of the contradictions of playing football at this level. We strain to keep the house up while the neighbors are putting additions on and buying vacation homes. And sometimes we still beat them.

It is too bad, but it is a reality of how we roll right now.

The other snippet of news is that BG has a commit from Ricardo Marble. He's a '17 commit. I am assuming he's a preferred walk on, who the Falcons can't comment on until they start classes. He is from Detroit, he was a QB at De La Salle Collegiate HS. There's not a ton of info on him, my guess is that we view him as a DB. He is 6'2".

The MAC still is selling out for the “value” of the TV coverage, as noted by there being no Saturday games in November at all. However that doesn’t impact BGSU much this year. UT is the only home game during the month and that game is almost always during the week due to the holidays usually. Otherwise we have all Saturday games, which is a nice thing for planning trips, tail-gates, etc.

I won’t lie though. Now that anybody with a .500 record-and sometimes not even that-will get a bowl game, the interest in those games has simply evaporated. It isn’t a reward, it isn’t special or memorable. We used to put plaques up for making a bowl. Why bother now. It is like putting a certificate of attendance on your resume, or a gold star from a grade school paper.

All the same, I’ll be curious to see how things progress this coming year.

I remember as a lad in the 60's and 70's there about a dozen or so bowl games. It was an event; parades before each bowl game etc. Now even Hawaii has its own bowl no matter how bad they are. Today, as eluded to, I agree the bowl games are nothing more than a continuation of the regular season. I watch only a couple and don't care about the rest. Before my dad and I would be parked in front of the TV to watch as many as the antenna could pick up with my mom and sister to join us for the parades.